I Turned Down a (Potential) Job at Chanel

It’s every fashion girl’s dream, right? To be approached by someone looking to fill a role at one of the world’s most iconic luxury fashion and beauty brands. Chanel. That famous interlocking “C” logo — a logo that stands for status. Status that I’ve longingly lusted over but have never actually been able to achieve.

That is until a couple of months ago. I was unexpectedly contacted by a recruiter looking to find a copywriter for “a luxury fashion brand.” There were no details in her email, but my mind quickly zeroed in on Chanel, Givenchy, YSL. Shaking with excitement, I texted a couple of friends for their advice as to whether I should explore the opportunity even though I wasn’t considering a career switch.

When the recruiter uttered those four little words over phone, “The brand is Chanel,” I kind of freaked out a little bit. It was like music to my ears. Honestly, the equivalent to landing an editorial job at Vogue. I thought it would be my big break.

And then she began to describe the position. I felt conflicted as she told me that the person would be responsible for proofreading and editing copy, writing copy for internal communications and sales documents, developing reference tools, etc. Basically, none of the fun stuff that I get to do right now.

I spent the better part of the day weighing my options. It was a junior role without much creativity. I’d have to give up my casual work attire for a whole new (read: expensive as hell) wardrobe that made it look like I cared about trends again. And I’d essentially be taking a few steps backwards so it didn’t align with my career trajectory. I’m going to be 29 years old. I simply can’t start at the bottom again no matter how awesome Chanel would look on my resume. (Le sigh.)

It broke my heart a little bit when I told the recruiter the next day that it wasn’t a good fit. Now, I know I wasn’t technically offered the job, but it was definitely on the table, which means I can totally land a job like this for a brand like that again.

Until then, I’ll continue to grow my skill set and experience at Ready Set Rocket, where I just celebrated my 1-year work anniversary. I received a promotion last week and am now the agency’s Senior Copywriter. Kinda cool. I feel really good about the role that I’ve carved out over the last year. And even though a lot of my work hasn’t made it into the real world yet, I’ve effectively helped the agency grow by adding a new service that they never had before. So let’s see where this ride takes me.